For this month’s column, I have a special treat for everyone: a very insider look at the Massachusetts Film Office party at the Sundance Film Festival. (You might even feel like you were there, so be careful what stories you tell!)

The Sundance Film Festival had something for everyone this year, including the Massachusetts contingent attending the fest. Thanks to the Mass. Film Office (MFO), many of the attendees enjoyed plenty of food including spring rolls and french bread pizza appetizers, not to mention the drinks served (plenty of reason, don’t you think, to attend the Kubrick version of the festival next year: Sundance 2001) at the party celebrating the Bay State presence at the U.S. premiere uber-"indie"-film-showcase. The Riverhorse Café played host to the group with a commanding view of mountainous Main Street.

And it seemed that everyone enjoyed themselves. Thanks to the efforts of Bonnie Flood and Robin Dawson in the film office, the party went off without a hitch. But what would the party have been without the participation of the very people it was honoring?

Left to Right: David Kleiler (Local Sightings), John Ives (Entertainment Lawyer), Robin Dawson (Director, MFO), Monika Mitchell (Director, NIGHT DEPOSIT Slamdance entry), Andrew Mudge (Director, CHICKEN POX PAL), Mary Chiochios (Producer, COULD BE WORSE) [Photo courtesy of the Massachusetts Film Office]

The big nod this year went to Zack Stratis for his thought provoking and American Spectrum entry COULD BE WORSE!, a musical/mockumentary about how his Greek family deals with his own homosexuality. The only feature hailing from Massachusetts — and shot in digital, no less — it had quite a load on its shoulders, but Stratis and his crew (a lot of the cast and crew showed up for the event) seemed quite energized and served up many the postcards and the little round yellow stickers that everyone at the party invariably ended up wearing by the end of the evening.

Others in attendance at the shindig included the short film competitors that entered their pieces in the multiple festivals that inundate Park City for that one week in January. Hailing from Picture Park, Jonathan Bekemeier’s TITLER (pronounced tit-ler, not like the oft mispronounced heading) screened at Sundance before the feature PSYCHO BEACH PARTY. While it was difficult getting a grasp of exactly what TITLER is, Bekemeier described it as "very offbeat." Colleague Greg Roman agrees, "it’s everything nobody wants to see all at once… and once you see the movie you’ll know what I mean." There is also some talk about TITLER having screened at the MFA in February. But the big news is that the film came away with a coveted Honorable Mention in Short Filmmaking from the Sundance Shorts Jury.

Left to Right: Bonnie Flood (Program Manager, MFO), Margo Day (Studio Executive from L.A.), Robin Dawson (Director, MFO), Linda Peterson Warren (Director, Arizona Film Commission) [Photo courtesy of Massachusetts Film Office]

The other short (though the filmmaker, Andrew Mudge is quite the opposite) Sundance entry CHICKEN POX PAL played in the Shorts Program One. And Mudge was on hand to promote his PAL as well as lend his moral support to the other filmmakers’ causes at the party. Mudge was frequently seen with other Sundance filmmakers, though all the fraternizing with the competition was friendly.

Monika Mitchell had the high honor of her film NIGHT DEPOSIT being accepted into the first ever online competition of the Slamdance film festival: Anarchy. She was one of the first ones at the film office festivity to chat up some of the shorts distributors that were in attendance. Atom Films had a rep there, their Director of Acquisitions in fact, Jannat Gargi, showed up for a brief bit. And by the close of polls on the Friday of festival week, Mitchell walked away with the sole title (that is pronounced like the heading, not the oft pronounced Bekemeier film) of audience award winner. The first in a long list of successes for Mitchell, I’m sure. You can check out NIGHT DEPOSIT at www.slamdance.com/anarchy.

Other familiar faces at the MFO gathering included now L.A. based but transplanted Bostonian Jennifer Shearman, David Kleiler and Laura Bernieri (read her coverage of the festival in this issue), John Ives, Producer’s Rep. Mark Litwak, casting director Kevin Fennessy, and a host of others, passing in and out of the atmosphere until the doors had to close and everyone went back to their movie-watching or went to another party. It was definitely a successful get together of the Massachusetts contingent.

Left to Right: Kathryn Malta (of Sony Music, winner of a gift certificate to Legal Seafoods during the MFO/Arizona Film Commission Breakfast Drawing); Robin Dawson (Director, MFO); Linda Peterson Warren (Director, Arizona Film Commission) [Photo courtesy of the Massachusetts Film Office]

In other New England-based Sundance news, Massachusettsian and high-power indie producer Sarah Green came away happy with a Dramatic Grand Jury Prize for her production of GIRLFIGHT. And if you think you see John Sayles as a biology teacher in it, don’t worry, you don’t need glasses. It’s really him.

And if you can, try and catch BARENAKED IN AMERICA, the Jason Priestly directed documentary about the Barenaked Ladies which showed at Slamdance. There’s a nice portion of it that takes place in the hub. (While it doesn’t have a distributor yet, I am sure it will find one within weeks).

The Nutmeg state had a nice showing at the fest as well. SNOW DAYS, Adam and Kip Marcus’ film about fate, love and allergies donned the screen with its four showings. And the world premiere of Brad Anderson’s HAPPY ACCIDENTS had an impressive and happily comic opening with tremendous performances pulled by both Marisa Tomei and Vincent D’Onofrio. Anderson has really come into his own with this latest romantic comedy and is certain to strike a chord with romantics and perhaps Trekkies as well with the time traveling aspect. Perhaps you just need to see it (or have you already seen it many, many times?).

It was Carl’s first time at Sundance, so if he seems a bit dazed, don’t be surprised. He wrote the February cover story for Immagine on locations in New England. He is currently working on the television series HOLLYWOOD AND CRIME forCourtTV at Tuk Media in Burbank, CA. Please e-mail any comments, concerns or questions to: fhansen1@netzero.com